What a great site!

[BillyBean]

Hello all,

Can I introduce myself?

I have just bought a second hand SIP 150 Turbo ( Yes I have read your posts about SIP welders ) & can't wait to get learning. Just waiting for the mask to come & looking around for offcuts to practice on and blow holes in. I have an interest in old cars but not much money, so own a Gentry kit car because it was cheap.
Welding is something I always wanted to learn and at 62 I hope soon to have more spare time to get stuck in.
Any hints on finding a gas supplier locally in the Tring/Aylesbury area?
It seems that not much metalworking gets done in the home counties.

This site must be the best resource ever for someone like me and I expect to use it alot.


Just seen how to add a photo, here is the old girl.

 

[madkayaker]

Hello and welcome

 

[rtbcomp]

Like the car, looks a bit too close to the original though!

You may find a gas supplier here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9334

 

[BillyBean]

Thanks rtbcomp,

Very useful link, it found me an Air Products supplier nearby.

Know what you mean about the car, bit like driving a fake.
Does mean I can use it & park it without worrying too much though, and the view over the bonnet is great! Even owners of the real thing have been fooled.

Like the car, looks a bit too close to the original though!

You may find a gas supplier here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9334

 

[BillyBean]

Ok, the postman just bought my new Parweld helmet and I have had a bit of a brainwave about what to use as scrap. I have a couple of old PCs I keep meaning to chuck, so I have just stripped out the sheet steel cases and brackets. Some internal metalwork is cad plated though, do I need to grind this off or not even use these? I believe cadnium is poisonous, so maybe I should bin them?

 

[madkayaker]

bin the lot really can't see it being of any use for practice. I might be wrong

 

[rtbcomp]

Cadmium is very toxic, I suspect they may be plated with something else these days. In any case grind back near the weld to prevent bad fumes and contaminated welds.

If you're just starting out I'd try on the thicker metal first, you'd have to be pretty good to MIG computer cases.

 

[sfsilks]

Yep great site

I thought I would join up as I agree it seems to be a great site for welders.

Its strange really, because I have been writing my own blog on the subject but never really paid much notice to the general community.

Still before I go just thought I would say great car pic, takes me back 20 years to my MG V8, not the same class, but memories eh!

Regards
Stephen

 

[Coo]

welcome billy....

for practice I nipped to the local recycling and raided the metal skip ... just a few small items that they would not notice.

 

[Bigjoe]

Welcome Billy,
The local tip is a good place or call on a few local fabrication companies and they might let you raid the skip for bits and pieces (a contribution for the tea fund might help).

Joe

 

[RedOrZed]

Hi,

For practise metal (& frankly for major parts of some of my projects LOL) I go to my local scrap metal yard. During the week steel goes for £1/kilo or there abouts. One sunny saturday morn I got about 30kg or more for a tenner - smiled and waved at the bloke as we got there, wished him a good morning :-)

always check in with the front desk as you go in, 1stly for your own safety and also to smile and tell them you're looking for stuff.

even more important than that: if you see a crane, find the operator and tell him you are there, and which bits of the heap you're looking at. This stops him throwing old cars etc. on your head. He may also give you a "hand" if you decide you want an interesting bit on the bottom of the pile or somewhere near the back. That is, he won't get out and actually manhandle anything, but he might dig about with the crane LOL

I've found loads of stuff at my local place, from off cuts for turning, to a model engineering drill press thing, sheet, box, tube, what-ever and paid pennies for it.

Aluminium, always handy to have a few bits of, it's slightly more expensive but not much.

 

[BillyBean]

Update

Well I finally got to play after I asked a local engineering company who gave me some 20 swg steel to play with.

The welder wouldn't feed smoothly at first, but that was cured by taking the feed wheels apart & turning the grooved one around. There was a patch of rust in the groove on the working side causing different amounts of grip.
One thing I was surprised about is that the gas flows out all the time and is not turned on & off with the trigger. Is this normal or is the torch at fault?

Did think about putting a picture of my first attempt up but maybe not

 

[rtbcomp]

The wheels have one groove for 0.6mm wire and one for 0.8, you may have had the wrong groove selected.

The gas should definitely switch on and off with the trigger. I'm not sure about your model but some machines have a solenoid operated valve in the big box, others have a manual valve in the torch unit, operated directly by the trigger. I've fixed trouble with the latter with a squirt of WD40 in the past.